I want to live in a world...

Video records people finishing the sentence, "I want to live in a world..."
I think this is an awesome video, and I want to live in the world these people talk about, too! I think it'd be too fun to make one of these videos, a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The video's short, and definitely worth watching...

The Good News about Middle-Aged Brains

I was so glad to read that there's hope for me in this encouraging blog entry in the Health section of yesterday's NY Times, because from the time I turned 40, EVERY time I'm asked my age I have to stop and figure it out! It always freaks me out and gets me to wondering what's going to decline next as I get older? Here's a teaser from a few interesting parts, (there's lots more) and links to the article and a couple of great books.

"Q. So what kinds of things does a middle-aged brain do better than a younger brain?

A. Inductive reasoning and problem solving — the logical use of your brain and actually getting to solutions. We get the gist of an argument better. We’re better at sizing up a situation and reaching a creative solution. They found social expertise peaks in middle age. That’s basically sorting out the world: are you a good guy or a bad guy? Harvard has studied how people make financial judgments. It peaks, and we get the best at it in middle age...

Q. So what’s happening in middle age that leads to these improvements?

A. What we have by middle age is all sorts of connections and pathways that have been built up in our brain that help us...Our brains are primed to navigate the world better because they’ve been navigating the world better for longer.

There also are some other physical changes that they can see. We used to think we lost 30 percent of our brain cells as we age. But that’s not true. We keep them...

Q. Is there anything you can do to keep your brain healthy and improve the deficits, like memory problems?

A. There’s a lot of hype in this field in terms of brain improvement. I did set out to find out what actually works and what we know. What we do with our bodies has a huge impact on our brains. Our brains are more like our hearts in that everything you do for your heart is thought to be equally as good or better for your brain. Exercise is the best studied thing you can do to your brain. It increases brain volume, produces new baby brain cells in grownup brains. Even when our muscles contract, it produces growth chemicals. Using your body can help your brain..."

from The Talents of a Middle-Aged Brain
NY Times, August 30, 2010
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/the-talents-of-a-middle-aged-brain/

Barbara Strauch is the author interviewed for this article. She is the health editor at The New York Times. Her last 2 books are: The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind and The Primal Teen

Good for the brain: In the Moment

I've been practicing a focus exercise in my morning meditations where I set my cell phone alarm to go off in 5 minutes, and then until it goes off, I focus on a *good* memory and try and actually feel the joy, or serenity, or whatever positive feelings I had at the actual time the event was taking place.

Although my mind wanders, this is an exercise in focus (and very good for your brain as far as recent studies are showing), and so the idea is that when I notice my mind wandering, I draw it back the memory, once again trying to draw myself into it to the point of feeling it. It's very hard to do, but with practice, I'm getting much better at staying in the memory for the full five minutes. This morning was easy, and I didn't lose my focus at all; in fact, I was surprised my alarm went off so fast!

I remembered back to a very special morning with my daughters while on vacation at Virginia Beach. I chuckled inside, remembering how I dragged them out of bed before dawn, wanting to watch the sunrise on the beach. As they grudgingly shuffled up the sidewalk with me towards the beach (only about a block away), I tried to be upbeat and raise their spirits, promising it would be something spectacular and awesome that they'd never forget.

I remembered how, as we got to the sand and began shuffling down towards the water, we were suddenly bathed in this incredible, pink-orange light that caused all three of us to look out over the ocean at the very same time. We stood there in awe, bathed in the new morning's sunlight as it peeked out over the edge of the earth. Even the girls were speechless, their complaints instantly ceasing. And then, it happened.

Way out in front of the rising sun where you could hardly stand to look (because of the brightness), and just at the horizon where you could see strong breaks in the waves...dolphins, TONS of them, were happily playing and jumping, enthusiastically welcoming the new day in a totally joyous celebration. They continued this for about 20 minutes, and we sat there watching and talking and laughing, not believing what we were witnessing. It was amazing!

I was so full of joy, serenity, and gratefulness at being able to share this moment with my babies, both of which were not such babies by that time. I felt and recognized in those moments, the full awareness of what a gift we had received.

And this morning, many years later, that all came back to me as if I were, once again, fully present in that moment. What a wonderful gift! What a wonderful day it made for me, both back then, and again today. Good to know that's accessible to me whenever I choose to feel it.

Quote for Today :)

"Today a new sun rises for me;
everything lives, everything is animated,
everything seems to speak to me of my passion,
everything invites me to cherish it..."

~Anne de Lencios

p.s. The photo is not us, although I do have some wonderful ones I took that morning somewhere that I may post sometime. I got this photo online a while back, because it captured the colors and general feeling of exuberance we experienced that morning so well, and it made me smile and remember. I hope the photographer will excuse my lack of citation, as I neglected to record it, not having intended to use it for anything but to stir my wonderful memories.

A Class Divided

A Class Divided is about an Iowa schoolteacher who, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in 1968, gave her third grade students a first-hand experience in the meaning of discrimination and then proceeded for many years to impact lives of both children and adults of all races by using this simple, but incredibly effective exercise. My daughter didn't want to watch this at first, but she ended up being amazed by it, as was I.

I think this 1985 Frontline is something everyone should see because it's still relevant today. I can't believe all of us who were still in school back then didn't have to do this?! I believe teachers could make such an incredible impact in this area if they were trained on how to do this right and all students were required to do this in each level of school (in the US it's elementary, middle and high school).

Here's the link to watch it free at PBS's site:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html

peace,
missy :)